


it's the dose that makes the poison

by shinyjoy



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: F/F, Family, Fluff, Medical
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-06-28 00:12:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19800688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinyjoy/pseuds/shinyjoy
Summary: If you find yourself having to meet Kang Seulgi, then you might be in big trouble. She only sees two kinds of people: the dead and the dying. Dr. Kang, a resident at Myung Se Hospital's literally and figuratively most toxic medical unit - the poison center, is thrown into an unlikely encounter with a doting single mother, Bae Irene.





	1. Chapter 1

_Oh,_  
_The taste of your lips_  
_I'm on a ride_  
_You're toxic I'm slippin' under_  
_With a taste of a poison paradise_

"I'm addicted to you. Don't you know that you're toxic." Seulgi mumbles along a slow acoustic cover of Britney Spears' Toxic.

Leave it to her best mate, Seungwan, to pick the most spot on lyrics for today's workshift. They _were_ kind of addicted to it - to the science of poisons - toxicology. Otherwise, they probably would not have ended becoming resident doctors at the department. Not that Seulgi regrets being in it. The job is fairly stimulating. There's almost never a dull moment, not when they handle emergency admissions when patients are at the brink of death. Or when they have to frequently check up on their patients’ recoveries. But there is one thing...their least favorite task - answering calls at the poison control center.

You see, Myung Se Hospital has hotlines open for people from all around the country who’ve exposed themselves to poison accidentally or on purpose and the residents' jobs are to receive their calls, advise the patients of treatment or to refer them to other professionals if needed. While the work sounds okay and all (since they get to sit on spinning chairs!), it’s actually mind numbing for a few reasons: One, nobody ever calls, which traps Seulgi and Seungwan into talking until they run out of things to say. After which, they stare blankly at the walls, roll their wheeled chairs around or snooze until the phones ring. Two, when people _do_ call, they could either be pranksters picking on the hospital phone number, mistaken food delivery customers or some really strange cases like that one time a person’s parents called because their son consumed chicken vitamins post-break up with his girlfriend.

Anyhow, the 94 liners have to last tonight’s telephone duty - no matter how tedious it is. It’s been a lazy day and you can tell since the call that rings out at the last 30 minutes of their shift is merely the seventh. 

"Answer the phone. I'll turn the music off." Seulgi orders, fumbling to stiffen her back from her evening nap. Her knees buckle to push off her chair towards Seungwan’s sleek black box speakers at the back of the room.

"Says who? YOU answer the phone. I'll turn MY music off." Seungwan retorts, blocking Seulgi’s way with her purple Vans sneakers.

“But I just answered the last one!” Seulgi argues, nose flaring in irritation. The telephone buzzing in between the two doctors is matching their yelling in terms of volume. Meanwhile, the guitar riffs to Toxic continue to fill the room. 

“Oh, just answer the damn phone or we’re _both_ going to get it from Soojung-seonsaengnim.” Seungwan fights back, pulling the arm of Seulgi’s chair with all her strength so it can slide closer to the ringing object, but even with the threat of facing the wrath of their intimidating consultant, Seulgi stands her ground.

"Rock-paper-scissors on who does it!" She challenges, not going down without a goddamn fight, despite the fact that three-quarters of her body are already in front of the telephone. “If I lose, I’m doing it.”

"Ugh, whatever. Game!" Seungwan cries in aggravation, flicking her beige colored hair out of her face. She rocks her fist twice and throws a paper gesture which beats Seulgi’s closed fist rock terribly. The latter sighs at her miserable luck and dejectedly grabs the phone closer.

“You suck at games, Kkang Seul. I don’t know why you even try.” Seungwan teases, sticking her tongue out. She busts a ridiculous victory dance while prancing to turn off the music (which has shuffled to Beyonce’s incredibly upbeat rendition of Love On Top, by the way, after much of their quarreling). The monolidded 94 liner snorts at the troll that is her shift-mate but the fun drains out of her when she picks up the phone. 

“Somebody help me p-please.” A woman’s soft, sobbing plea crackles through the speaker. 

_It sounds like something has gone horribly wrong._

“Hello?” Seulgi responds quickly. Adrenaline courses through her body and in seconds, every nerve and muscle in her is tingling and feeling the moment’s urgency. _The doctor is IN._

“What happened? The details and your name please.”

“I’m Irene.” The voice manages to croak. Seulgi clicks a pen and grabs a wad of paper from her desk to write.

_I r e n e._

Seungwan bats an eye, seeing Seulgi’s shoulders jerk up, attending to a call in full concentration. She asks, “Is something up?”

Her partner only puts a finger to her lip as an answer. Seungwan sinks into her chair, left to her own curiosity. Seulgi waits for her caller to explain, pressing the speaker closer to her ear.

“My three-year-old daughter ate silica gel packets.” Irene recalls frantically in tears. “She ch—choked on them.”

“Choked on them? So she’s stopped?” Seulgi interrogates, brushing her long brown hair out of the way to take more notes.

“I, I, I- I didn’t know what to do so I made her d-dr-drink water to gulp it d-down.” Irene stutters, her voice starting to gain volume as she struggles to tell the story straight. Seulgi’s ear is still straining though, as it works hard to filter out the sniffling from intelligible speech. “Is she going to be fine? What do I do?”

The sight of her precious daughter choking must have taken a toll on Irene, because she sounds like she’s about to lose her mind to anxiety. More than anything, Seulgi can hear her non-stop haggard huffing and puffing. And although med school training has supposedly stripped her off of all sympathy, for some strange reasons, Irene’s weeping brew pity at the pit of the robust doctor’s stomach. She’s heard tons of mothers’ wails and yells before, yet Seulgi thinks Irene’s are different.

_Rather than a mother, she cries like a helpless little child._

“Irene-ssi, it’s okay. You can calm down.” Seulgi talks in her most reassuring tone. “Your kid is going to be fine. You said she stopped choking, right? Because you gave her water?”

It takes a while but Irene’s sobs extinguish into smaller snuffles and Seulgi thinks she heard her say, "Really?". Comforting her patients wasn’t her strength so she feels relief when she senses Irene’s mood pick up at the news alone.

“Yeah, you did the right thing.” Seulgi catches her breath and launches in an explanation. “Silica gel are generally non-toxic - meaning they’re not poisonous when you eat them. They just tell you to keep them away from children because they’re choking hazards, but since you’ve stopped your kid from choking by giving her lots of water, she’s going to be fine now.”

“Really?” Irene repeats, still with a sliver of disbelief. “Seonsaengnim, are you absolutely sure? We don’t have to come to the hospital? She’s just going to live her normal life after this? No bad side effects? No anything?”

_Ah yes, the usual machine gun of questions._ Seulgi muses. She doesn’t take it personally when Irene doesn’t heed her advice at first try. Worrying parents aren’t new to her. There are always circumstances like this when they insist on rushing their kid to the hospital even when she tells them there’s absolutely no need. She’s sure they mean no ill intentions and like Irene, they just genuinely want to make sure their kid is going to be okay.

“Yes, Irene-ssi. I’m sure your child is going to be fine. She doesn’t need to be admitted. Just monitor her constantly and visit us if something happens.” Seulgi answers, trying to sound more credible. She's not really planning on bagging the Guiness World Record for the most number of ‘fines’ and ‘okays’ said in a span of a single conversation. “The only side effects I can think of are nausea and vomiting but they don’t happen all the time and they’re not that serious either.”

There’s a moment of silence and after that, for the first time in the call’s duration, Seulgi thinks she hears Irene _breathe,_ as an audible sigh of relief escapes from the other side of the phone line.

“Ah- I’m sorry, seonsaengnim if I sounded like I didn’t believe you. I do. I really do.” Irene clarifies too quickly that her voice cracks. It takes a while for her to re-compose herself but Seulgi insists on listening attentively. “I’m just not thinking straight right now.” 

“It’s okay, Irene-ssi. No need for apologies. I understand. It’s a normal parent reaction.” Seulgi replies, smiling at the other person who can’t even see her, because she made her say ‘it’s okay’ for the nth time.

“Thank you, seonsaengnim.” Irene hums a lot more relaxed and positive this time. “I’ll listen well now. Thank you for being patient with me.”

Seulgi nods. “No problem. Take care now, Irene-ssi.”

The doctor clicks the phone into its place and ends the call. At last, the adrenaline rush dies down. She lets her shoulders comfortably sag on the back cushion of her seat, flapping her white coat to cool herself down. 

“Oooooooh, that’s the longest call you’ve ever lasted.” Seungwan says intriguingly, wheeling her chair towards Seulgi. “It looked urgent. What was it this time? Somebody topped chicken vitamins guy?”

“I thought it was a failed suicide attempt at first because the voice was similar to a very weak panting girl. I was thinking of that one story Soojung-seonsaengnim told us about drinking caustics and burning your throat.” Seulgi shudders, readjusting her coat to hug her shoulders more. “But it turns out, she’s a parent calling because her child –“

“Swallowed silica gel?” Seungwan interrupts, rolling her eyes. Seulgi raises her eyebrows in affirmation. “How typical. Parents work too hard these days and can’t keep an eye on their kids.”

Seulgi’s fingers drum on her notepad and she replies defensively without thought. “I don’t know about that, but she did seem very sorry about it though. She didn’t take the whole thing well. It was like the world was crashing and burning around her right there and then.”

Seungwan scowls at Seulgi suspiciously.

“I mean – any sane parent would panic at their child choking and swallowing stuff that aren’t safe to consume.” She mutters more meekly this time, realizing she’s being too protective. Her newfound sympathy is seeping into her again as she recalls Irene’s guilty voice on the telephone. “I’m just saying that Irene seems to be fond of her kid and probably isn’t as negligent as you - ”

“Wait, Irene-ssi? Why do I feel like I’ve heard that name before…” Seungwan echoes her name over and over, swiveling her chair slowly – a habit she did when she was trying to remember. She stops after a while when her brain comes up with nothing but a headache. 

“I can’t remember exactly but I’m sure I’ve heard her name from someone before.” The beige-haired doctor concludes, moving away to mind her own business. “Anyway, whoever she is, I hope she and her kid are okay now and that she learns her lesson to keep choking hazards away from children.”

Seungwan dismisses the topic completely and the music plays once more. Things return to their natural flow. Everything is normal and boring again at Myung Se’s toxicology call center. Well…everything except the gears churning in Seulgi’s head. Seungwan has stopped repeating the caller’s name but the young medic doesn’t seem to be quite over her yet. She can still hear her childlike pleading playing in her mind like a broken record.

To snap herself out of it, Seulgi slowly rips a piece of her notepad. The snip snip snips keep her occupied for a tiny fraction of the time but when she finally holds the completely detached sheet in her hands, she’s drawn to it again.

She’s drawn to her again.

Written in Seulgi’s quick all caps pen scratches.

_IRENE_

\-------

“Are you thinking of that caller again? You’re distracted.” Seungwan states the obvious to Seulgi. The girl has been out of it in the entirety of their spontaneous dinner at the convenience store. It was so severe that even Sooyoung, their friend from the Family Medicine ward, and all her attention seeking extra-ness weren’t working. “Aside from the unusual non-response, I can also tell because I expected you to scarf down that ramyeon by the first minute.”

The trio stare at Seulgi's abandoned cup ramyeon with pity.

“Amen to that. You _love_ ramyeon more than anything. This is some weird 180-degree shift.” Sooyoung scoffs at Seulgi and the noodle she’s rolling on her chopsticks snaps. Hers is almost half empty while Seulgi’s cup has soup filling it up to the brim. “You’re not the type to worry about work in the hospital when you’re not in it.”

“Bring our food vacuum friend back, you imposter!” Seungwan kids, threatening to poke Kang in the face with a plastic spoon when she remains unperturbed. It snaps the latter out of her trance. Seulgi shakes herself back to consciousness, noticing the utensil at her eye level. She wrestles the spoon down the table.

“I’m not sure why I’m acting like this either. It’s been a long time since a patient tugged on my heartstrings.” Seulgi consequently proceeds to twirling her unattended ramyeon.

“That’s if you still HAVE any.” Seungwan points out, wagging her spoon again at her same age friend. “I think med school snapped all of our heartstrings _years_ ago…”

The trio recall studying the skeletal architecture in a month, memorizing the origin, insertion, innervation and action of muscles for an 80 point quiz, dissecting their first cadaver, working on case reports, juggling their time to check up on patients, loaning who knows how much to pay for school and books and they all nod in agreement.

Seulgi sips on her soup lazily and cringes with distaste at its coldness. “I guess it was just the way she was desperately asking for help like she had no one else to cling to….Makes me think if she lives alone with her kid.”

“Well, more people are ending up at being single parents these days because life is hard and stuff so I really won’t be surprised if Irene-ssi is one of them.” Seungwan remarks grimly.

“Irene-ssi?” Sooyoung’s eyes light up at the mention of her name. The doctor with long raven black hair lets go of her cup and wipes her mouth in a hurry. Seulgi wonders why her friends keep having Eureka moments over a single namesake and with Sooyoung, hopefully, she is about to find out.

“I wonder if it’s Bae Irene…”

“Bae Irene!” Seungwan echoes loudly, clapping her hands together and her lips shaping into an ‘O’. “Waaaah, Seulgi! I remember now! I’ve heard about Irene from Sooyoungie. _That’s_ why the name sounded so familiar…”

“Do you know her well?” Seulgi asks the taller doctor, her curiosity winning over sense. The probability of them talking about the same Irene is uncertain but here she is jumping into conclusions. “The only identifying information I remember is her telling me she has a 3-year-old daughter...” 

“The Irene I know is a regular at the Family Medicine ward. You don’t get to see a lot of them these days but she’s one of them – folks with good health seeking behaviors. I see her and her kid, Ahreum, on my rotations _all the time_.” Sooyoung shares enthusiastically. “They get frequent check-ups and she’s always nice, really pleasant and young-looking for her age. Too bad her husband died shortly after their kid was born…oh – wait.”

Sooyoung pauses to think thoroughly. “I think that _was_ about three years ago so…could it be Bae Irene, then?”

Seulgi imagines what it must be like – being a widow almost the same time as being a first-time mom – and sadness pangs her heart. Her conversation with Irene flashes in her head and it all clicks. Her apocalyptic retelling of the choking experience and her utter despair at thinking of losing her only family to tiny silica beads. _It’s got to be her. It’s got to be the same Irene._ Seulgi is not only jumping into conclusions now, she’s _skydiving_ into them.

“Where do they live?” The rookie doctor isn’t allowed to ask it, but it slips any way. She’s been mulling over it the whole time - how Irene and her kid were doing, what they looked like, who they were…and here she is, close to reaching the answers. 

At this, Seungwan widens her eyes and pushes her round specs back up her nose. “Whoa. Slow down there, Seul. I know you get soft for parents the most because your own parents are good to you but this is kinda out of line. You’re not planning on dropping by at their house, are you?”

"Something tells me that's _exactly_ what she's planning." Sooyoung's eyebrow curls up. She takes in two small gulps of her bubble tea before speaking again. “Even if I did know, we’re not supposed to divulge information like that, are we?”

To that, Seungwan nods slowly, confronting her same age friend. “Drop the idea, Seul. It’s probably going to be weird on the Baes’ part if you come barging into their household unexpectedly in the middle of the night. You’re not even sure if Bae Irene’s the caller and besides, if she were, they’re probably both fine now or else we would have seen them getting admitted in the department.”

The comment urges Seulgi to backtrack to reality and stare blankly at her already dry noodles. Despite the opinion eliciting disappointed emotions from her, Seungwan’s point was valid and rational. It wasn’t Seulgi’s nature to care this much and it was overreacting to check on a family she hasn’t even met before. The latter exhales deeply.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’d totally look crazy.” Seulgi declares, at last, putting some noodles into her mouth to eat. “I did my part already. It’s none of my business anymo –“

“I texted you their address.” Sooyoung blurts out of all of a sudden, taking her two companions aback. She pockets her phone into her white coat with a smug smile.

“I thought you knew we weren’t supposed to give out stuff like that?!” Seungwan reprimands, her eyes about to leap out of their sockets. “That’s patient-doctor confidentiality!”

“I _know_ , but I’m still a really bad amateur doctor, remember?” Sooyoung coolly replies at her alarmed friend. She pops out a chapstick from her purse and throws a wink at Seulgi. The latter checks her phone and indeed there it was – the Baes’ address – sitting on her inbox.

“Besides, it’s _Seulgi._ It’s not like she’s going to ransack their house or anything.” Sooyoung drawls on her friend’s name, emphasizing to Seungwan how harmless the act could possibly be. Her eyes glint as if she's conniving in secret. "Also, this will work in our favor, Son. Seulgi _wants_ to see Irene, right? We give her what she wants. She gets it. She can stop zoning out about it and we can have our average food vacuum friend back."

The namebearer subconsciously bobs her head vigorously in accord. _Yeah...maybe if I see her, then I can stop thinking about her._ Her stomach suddenly feels full even without a proper meal and her feet are itching to go as if in agreement. In her mind is already a visual image of how she was going to get to the address in her messages. Seulgi is glad she's accustomed to traveling by herself.

Seungwan considers retaliating but resigns when she sees Seulgi’s eyes gleaming in anticipation. _What could she do, really, when her friend’s already clutching her messenger bag, ready to disappear on their ramyeon date?_ She closes her eyes and inhales sharply. “Don’t act strange and bring your hospital ID so you actually look like a doctor paying a house visit. We don’t want Irene calling the police suspecting you as a stalker. I’m not paying a single won for bail.”

“Oh, let her be! She’s going to be fine…” Sooyoung scolds, wiping off excess lipstick with her index finger. “It’s the first time she’s ever been interested into something that isn’t poisonous.”

“Ah! But, interest is poison. Love is poison because everything is poison…” Seungwan recites, resting her chopsticks on the paper cup.

“…it’s the dose that makes the poison.” Seulgi finishes the infamous toxicology quotation, grinning at Sooyoung, who obviously has had enough of the duo’s inside jokes.

**“Oh, don’t give me your Paracelsus shit, you nerds.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! The first chapter is up! I got this writing inspiration while I was sitting in one of my class lectures on pesticides lol. I hope you stay for Chapter Two because (spoiler alert!!!!) Irene’s finally appearing. 
> 
> P.S. Paracelsus is the father of toxicology and the person who's credited to have said the quotation (it's the dose that makes the poison). Also, stay away from choking hazards!!!! I'll be mentioning people who get in contact with toxic stuff a lot (either intentionally or accidentally) because my characters are doctors who work with them. Please do not attempt to imitate any of the stuff I'd be mentioning here. ANDDDDDD, feel free to talk to me in the comments.


	2. Chapter 2

Ten minutes in and Seulgi’s feet are already getting friendly with the Baes’ doorstep. She’s been pacing back and forth, rehearsing her introductory lines in quiet whispers. She tries to heed Seungwan’s advice to not be weird, screening each word that comes out of her mouth and ensuring that they’re courteous and professional. After all, she isn’t planning to get arrested for simply caring for a patient.

Or the patient’s mother.

_EITHER WAY._

If only her mind was good at memorizing speeches as her feet were at memorizing the feel of the Baes’ red rubber door mat. 

_Hello, I’m Kang Seulgi. I’m a resident doctor at Myung Se Hospital’s toxicology department. I’m the person who received your call at the poison center hours ago. I got a little worried while listening, but I couldn’t reach out to you until coincidentally Sooyoung, my friend from the Family Medicine ward, told me she knew you. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay that’s why I vis –_

“Ack, what the hell?” Seulgi hisses, plunging her head into her palms. “Is this an essay? Am I planning to put her to sleep? Why am I rambling too much!?”

The last sentence reverberates loudly that the doctor’s monolidded eyes had to check swiftly from one room of the humble apartment building to another if she had disturbed anyone. Lights are still on in some. She can also hear murmuring televisions in others, but in total, all the doors are locked. She lets out an anxious huff. _I really need to get things moving before somebody notices me and calls me out for lurking._

Seulgi rereads the address on her inbox one last time.

 _This is it._ She confirms, blinking at the brown plastic door. She takes a couple of deep breaths and pulls at the collar of her striped shirt. The doctor hoists her hand to knock but the entrance swings itself open spontaneously and a short girl sporting a white baseball tee with black sleeves and gray sweatpants emerges. 

“Hey…can I help you?” She asks timidly while her delicate small hand reaches for the purple hair clip on her bangs. She plucks it out and a strand of her dark hair curls to draw Seulgi’s attention to the wide, innocent eyes dipping intently into hers. According to the rules of short term memory, her practiced piece is supposed to come to her mind easily when recalled, but instead all Seulgi’s haywire brain could think of at the moment was:

_Wow, she’s...beautiful._

“Hello? Are you okay?” The stranger gapes at the doctor worriedly, waving her hand slowly at Seulgi’s face. An obvious look of distress plagues the girl’s gentle facial features. What an unexpected turn of events this was – somebody else asking a doctor if she was okay. "I opened the door because I thought I could hear someone talking..."

“...Are you lost perhaps?” The shorter girl asks, peering out the doorway as if to see if Seulgi was meaning to knock at her other neighbor’s door.

“I-uh….uhm…” Seulgi starts spouting gibberish. “Uh..”

She scrabbles to unclip her hospital ID out of her slacks’ belt loops. _So much for not being weird_. She’s exactly looking like what Seungwan told her not to be: a creepy intruder with questionable intentions. Thankfully, the wretched thing unhooks itself and Seulgi, in an attempt to save face, projects an optimistic smile while she hangs up her hospital ID at the concerned resident. 

“Hello, I'm Kang Seulgi, a resident doctor at Myung Se Hospital. I was just wondering if this is where Miss Bae Irene lives?”

The girl’s brows unfurrow, and her sleepy doe eyes widen in recognition. "Ah, the person on the phone!" She exclaims, cupping her hands to her mouth.

"Yes, yes! I’m the person on the phone - wait, wh-what?" Seulgi stutters in shock. Her right index finger instinctively holds itself up."Wa-wait a second, are you...are you perhaps…"

"I'm Bae Irene." The girl beams brightly, holding a hand to her chest. "The _other_ person on the phone." 

Seulgi swears she misplaced her jaw somewhere in that split second and that her soles have glued themselves on the cement in utter stupefaction. When Sooyoung was describing Bae Irene as someone who’s ‘nice, really pleasant and young-looking’, she was thinking of her own mother who aged gracefully through the years. _Oh, how wrong she was._ Seulgi figures, witnessing how pale Sooyoung’s words were in comparison to the sight of Irene’s perfectly youthful, ridiculously pretty appearance.

Scrap ‘aging gracefully’. Irene didn’t even look like she aged.

Suddenly, Seulgi wonders if Sooyoung’s rather unreluctant support for her visit was driven by her scheming ways. _Is she laughing at me now? Is this her doing?_ _A set up she thought would be funny because she knew how terrible Seulgi was at keeping conversations with pretty girls?_ The said difficulty manifests itself as Seulgi is barely spewing proper sentences to contribute to the conversation.

"Ho-how did you-"

"Ah, how did I know it was you?” Irene ends all the doctor’s sentences for her. “Well…I _was_ listening very well earlier during the phone call, so I was able to recognize your voice when you introduced."

Seulgi’s head rocks itself up and down involuntarily, impressed at Irene’s display of good auditory memory. At the same time, she’s fortunately relieved from the long explanation she’s prepared to prove her identity and the even longer one if she and her friends have _not_ been talking about the same Irene. She pockets her card and lets her hand stay in there. At least, she can skip to the important parts. 

"I'm sorry for the unplanned visit and for invading your privacy but I just got a little worried when you called.” The doctor clears her throat with her free hand before proceeding as planned. “I couldn’t reach out to you though until coincidentally Sooyoung, my friend from the Family Medicine ward, told me she knew you. I went to visit because I wanted to make sure you’re okay. "

Heart pounding against her rib cage, Seulgi manages to speak her lengthiest dialogue yet without the unnecessary uh and uhms. Believe her, it wasn’t an easy task with Irene being particularly attentive. She could notice how the girl’s eyes would trail all over her face and land on her lips, as if she were lipreading.

Irene smiles kindly when Seulgi finishes talking. Her half-moon eyes twinkle with something along the lines of astonishment and gratitude. "Thank you. That’s actually very nice of you."

 _That’s actually very nice of you._ The words resound themselves in Seulgi's ears. She hasn't heard them in a while despite being in a service oriented profession. After all, she’s not the type to go the extra mile to dote on her patients. As long as they get discharged out of the hospital quickly after treatment, then her job is done, right? She wasn’t Seungwan – Son Seungwan - who, inspite claiming med school has desensitized her, greets her patients with a smile that puts the sun to shame and talks to them like a friend so, yeah…

…Kang Seulgi probably wasn't the kindest doctor in the first place.

 _That’s actually very nice of you._ It was foreign to Seulgi but Irene's sweet voice made it feel very good - so good that Seulgi wanted to do nice things more often so she could hear it again from her.

“…Everything went fine, though. Just like you said.” Irene adds bashfully, taking control of Seulgi’s attention again. The doctor, then, realizes the girl is probably referring to the three times she had to assure her that her daughter was going to be alright. “No nausea or vomiting either. It’s like nothing happened, but of course, I’ve got to be more care- ” 

The door opens wider because Irene absentmindedly leans on it and the cool breeze causes her to quiver. “Whoa, it’s actually pretty cold outside. You must have been freezing! You should come indoors now…”

“Eh? Me? No- no, no…I’m fine!” Seulgi lies, glad her shivering white knuckles were shoved way into her pants, obscured from Irene’s sight. “I don’t want to bother you that much…”

“What are you saying?” Irene makes a pained expression; her brows are scrunching together again. “You’re my guest!”

“I dressed warmly today, really.” Seulgi answers, gesturing to her longsleeved baby blue striped button downs. “I’m not cold at al-“ 

Seulgi interrupts herself when she looks down and sees Miss Bae cross her arms together. Frankly, although her height makes her stare up at Seulgi to maintain eye contact, Irene’s stance is intimidating. Her clenched jaw and intense gaze is sending even more chills into the doctor’s spine than the night wind. The doctor knows she’s _over_ when Irene shifts her hands from her chest to her hips and in a no nonsense tone, she mutters low:

“I’m not taking another ‘no’ for an answer.”

The doctor swallows the hard lump in her throat.

_Irene just switched to full ‘mom mode’._

“On the second thought…” Seulgi trails off, as if she genuinely considered the invitation. “Your suggestion would be great. Thank you, Irene-ssi.”

\--------

Seulgi hasn’t felt it for the longest time but, it washes over her the moment she sets foot into Irene’s household: that peculiar, overwhelming feeling of entering someone’s house for the first time. Out of politeness, her eyes don’t linger on anything in particular, but Seulgi can tell the Baes like to keep things. Their white bookshelf is packed with thick books and the picture frames sitting on it are threatening to fall on each other like dominoes. Likewise, the studio has overstuffed furnishings in warm colors.

It’s just spacious enough for a family of three. Except the rooms hidden by the doors, you can see almost everything by standing in one place. The kitchen is, similarly, narrow and tiny that if Seulgi were to spread her arms out, she could touch each white side wall with the palms of her hands. She can also effortlessly inhale the glazed donut smell coming from the scented candles on the gray table top three meters away.

The room is less than perfect but it has lived-in comfort that makes you want to sit yourself down, sip coffee and enjoy good company. _Small and cozy_. The doctor thinks, as her eyes quit touring the house and they zero in at its petite and cordial owner. _The person’s home really becomes like the person._

"I'm sorry I didn't get to clean up much because of the incident..." Irene says regretfully, tossing some clothes from here and there on the linen brown couch and brushing some non-existent lint from the pillow covers. “…It’s usually a bit more organized around here.”

Seulgi shakes her head. Sure, Irene’s house is a far-cry from Sooyoung’s and Seungwan’s who are real neat freaks whose houses are sparsely furnished, yet you can’t compare it with Seulgi’s condominium unit. That place is in constant helter-skelter. She’s about to reply ‘your place isn't even dirty at all,’ but a couple of huge figures in the living room catch her eye.

"Whoa, that's a _lot_ of paper." Seulgi comments with a tinge of amazement, cocking her head to admire the four huge stacks of paper on the coffee table. She wonders if her paper work at school and hospital would have amounted to something similar if she had piled them.

“What are those for?”

"Oh gosh…the worksheets!” Irene cries out in surprise, biting her lip to punish herself for momentarily forgetting about her job. She rushes to the table and carries the piles to an empty seat instead. Seulgi follows her lead to help her but Irene works too quickly. _Did her tiny hands lift them altogether?_ The doctor wonders as the reams of paper are now arranged tidily on the cushion.

“…I teach in kindergarten, you see. They do tons of practice activities every day.” Irene explains, patting the heap of worksheets with alphabets on them. “I'm a slow checker though, so they tend to accumulate…"

Seulgi spies that the first page is a poorly done ‘Q’ that resembles a squirrel rather than the actual letter. The doctor would have winced at it if Irene wasn’t watching, but she was, so she had to keep her expressions in check. Nevertheless, Seulgi sees the teacher has graded it a perfect 10 out of 10 and even drew a cute little bunny with a speech bubble that says: ‘good job, let's practice some more!’ on it. Not that Seulgi hasn’t expected this. Irene _did_ look like a teacher who'd give a 10 to someone who deserved a 2. She might be unsure if this leniency is good for the kids' education, but Seulgi is certain that Irene has the best intentions for providing the kids an encouraging, non-judgmental environment.

The doctor skims through the other stacks and stops at one that has decent handwriting in it. Examining closely, she concludes that it's Irene’s. She’s made step by step tutorials of how to write the letters very much like what artists do when they post drawing tutorials online. The stapler haphazardly lying open beside the pile tells Seulgi this is what Irene was up to while she was contemplating her plans outside - attaching the examples onto the students’ exercise sheets so they can imitate them and do better.

_She’s not a slow checker at all. She’s just putting in too much effort._

Irene coughs into her hand, distracting Seulgi from her thoughts. She squeezes in between the chairs to block her work from the visitor’s view. "Anyway, my kid is inside her room. I suppose you’d want to see her?”

The doctor nods, peeling her eyes off the table and remembering the purpose of her visit. Irene gestures to one of the two bedrooms. She opens the door carefully, flips on a light switch and a dim glow spills into the room enough for Seulgi to make out the pink and white bunny silhouette patterned wallpaper surrounding it. A twin-size bed ideal for one child centers the room but the four too many pillows on the headboard hints that Irene sleeps cuddling her kid to fit in that white wooden fixture.

"I sleep here too." Irene repeats verbally, supporting the image in Seulgi's head. They both walk over to the figure bundled up in salmon colored bedsheets. "Ahreum and I get lonely when we sleep at separate rooms..."

Seulgi’s steps are smooth and noiseless, exercising caution as to not wake the little one. Even when she peeks into the covers and sees the most beautiful child she's ever seen, she stays mum. _Are kids supposed to have faces as distinct as this? Don’t kids look the same at this age?_ She marvels at Ahreum’s milky white skin, long black hair, button nose and downward shaped lips.

_Isn’t she simply…a little version of Irene?_

"Don't worry too much about waking her up. Ahreum's a heavy sleeper...” Irene chuckles softly, patting her kid's butt. To demonstrate, she massages a handful of Ahreum’s buttcheeks and the latter doesn’t even stir. “I like to tease her and call her Sleeping Beauty.”

The physician casts her eyes on the mother and daughter tandem in front of her. She goes back and forth, yet arrives at the same conclusion: their genes are golden. They’re a family of ethereal visuals.

Seulgi hums in affirmation. “She’s pretty and she takes after you.”

Silence follows, and the bold confession sends Irene blushing and smiling coyly away. The doctor realizes how forward she was being. _Did she just indirectly tell Irene she found her beautiful?_ Seulgi’s fingers involuntarily curl themselves at the thought. She gives herself a mental beating while Irene rapidly gains composure again and takes a seat on the tiny bed.

"Ah, she takes after me? But she's a lot more hard-headed than I am! I almost went _crazy_ thinking I'd lose her to silica gel today." The older girl responds, rubbing Ahreum’s back lovingly like she was the dearest, closest thing to her heart. The mood in the room dives into seriousness. “...it’s mainly my fault though, I should watch over her more…or maybe hire a sitter. How much do they cost these days? I wonder if I can pay for one…”

Seeing Irene in this light, Seulgi is reminded of her own mother who likes to chatter away about family matters on her own. The doctor grins nervously as Miss Bae starts becoming engrossed on rambling by herself, debating pros and cons.

“…but is anyone trustworthy enough these days? What if I end up hiring a pickpocket or a serial killer? I keep messing up lately…”

“You probably won’t-“

“….maybe it would be better to ask my cousins for help? But I’d let hell freeze over before I leave my house alone with Kim Yerim…”

“Who is-”

“…that leaves me with no choice but to ask for a raise then…I think the other teachers would be fine with that but what a nuisance I’d be…” 

Seulgi doesn’t have any idea of who Kim Yerim is or any understanding of the words Irene was stumbling over for the past minute, but she doesn’t like how it sounds like a mixture of an apology, an explanation and an indictment.

“Irene-ssi…” Seulgi tries to call her attention, worrying that if she doesn’t speak up soon, Irene is going to forget about her existence completely.

“…Or maybe not. I mean - we _teach children_ in the first place - we're basically building the nation.”

“Irene-ssi…”

As the second attempt goes unnoticed, Seulgi thinks she has to be louder. 

“What's a few more wons in the pockets of hardworking teach -”

“Irene-ssi!”

The rise in volume finally snaps the latter out of her one-woman conversation. At this, Seulgi clears her dry throat and takes a strong hold of Irene’s reins.

"I think you’ve been doing well so far, Irene-ssi. Maybe you just have to do a little risk analysis on your place.” The doctor suggests, recalling this one lecture she listened to. It was about how industries keep their workplaces safe and healthy for employees but Seulgi judges that it could be similar for houses and children too. It's far-fetched but if it leads Irene out of her self-incrimination, it'll have to do. 

“First, you could identify hazards. Which objects could be harmful? What materials are they made of? Then, do a risk assessment. How can Ahreum be exposed to them? What effects could they possible cause? And finally, think of ways of how you can reduce exposure from them. You can eliminate objects or substitute the material with something more child-friendly…”

Seulgi lags on her words, becoming aware of the way the older girl’s eyes would gloss over her. Her advice isn’t what regular people would say but Irene is showing interest anyway - her non-verbal cues subconsciously compelling the doctor to talk comfortably. However, Irene misinterprets the sudden silence as Seulgi stopping because of feeling irrelevant.

“Seonsaengnim, you were saying?” The shorter girl prods, tilting her head forward so her straight dark hair falls over her shoulders. “I was listeni –“

“N-no actually…it’s okay. What I want to say is...” The younger adult begins again, dropping the ‘doctor’ façade to go straight to the point. “What I _really_ want to say is…”

“…It must have been a hard day for you.” Seulgi admits.

Irene’s dark almond eyes flicker and now, the doctor can’t look her in the eye and has to stare over the top of her head instead. She musters up more courage to follow through with her words.

“…and that’s okay. It’s difficult to raise a small child – more so if you’re alone. Forgive yourself for the shortcomings you have once in a while. There's no perfect in parenting. Also, I think it’ll be alright to ask help from your friends. You’re not a burden. You can rely on others too.” 

Seulgi halts her speech again. This time because the glow in Irene’s eyes turn into moist. 

”I think I’ve been waiting for someone to tell me those things.” Irene mumbles when she finds her voice. She struggles to blink tears out of her eyes. “The words: ‘it’s okay.”

The older girl’s shoulders droop down on the bed’s headboard. At this moment, Seulgi, at last, sees the weight of experience descending upon Irene all at once. She hears it – her heavy breath – but can’t understand it. She knows nothing about Irene’s hardships or her solitary life in the aftermath of her husband’s death or the reason she’s hurting silently all of a sudden. She's eager to ask but she wants to be helpful (even just a little bit) so she stays quiet instead - like a resting place.

"I’m trying to raise her well. I really am...” Irene mutters to air as her hands and eyes busied themselves in smoothening out Ahreum’s black tresses.

Seulgi plops onto the mattress and scoots close. She tries to not think too hard about what she’s doing and lets her human instinct to empathize take over. Boldly, she extends her hand towards Irene’s, urging the latter to freeze. It’s awkward and clumsy, but her fingers pat on the older girl’s soft skin tenderly and in a tone that makes them feel both scared and safe at the same time, Seulgi utters:

“I’m sure you are, Irene-ssi. I’m sure you’re taking care of her well.”

As if the resolution in the younger one's acknowledgement is an invisible hand, the older girl's chin lifts up to face her. In exchange for Seulgi's kind words, Irene gifts her a candid grin that stretches out into a thankful sparkle in her crescent-shaped eyes.

_Maybe if I see her, I can stop thinking about her._ _What a mistake._

Seulgi swears this smile is going to haunt her.

She’ll want to see it again. One more time. 

**"I hope I can meet her again someday, your Ahreum."**

**END OF CHAPTER TWO**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t forgotten about inserting Yeri as a character in this fic. >:D She’s Irene’s younger cousin!


	3. Chapter 3

"Where is Kang Seulgi?" A skeptic Seungwan slams her palms on the hospital cafeteria table.

Heads turn in their direction.

Although she’s dressed for it - the tiny doctor being clad in a brown crisscross patterned blazer - it’s a very lousy impression of a prosecutor. 

"Quiet down, Son. People are _watching._ " Seulgi replies in vexation, the egg noodles she’s gobbling distorting her speech. She pounds her thumb on her maroon scrub top. “What are you on to? I'm right here talking to you!”

"What is Kang Seulgi's contact name on my phone?" As if she didn’t hear the latter’s response completely, the beige-haired doctor doesn’t abandon talking in third person. She shoots her cautious probing question at a very irked Kang Seulgi whose eyes are dimming into black pits. 

She grits her teeth. "Why do I have t -"

"Answer me!"

"It's Wise Ddeulgi-jjing with a bear emoji." Seulgi deadpans. She is 100% done with Seungwan’s shit. Good thing she’s not the type to grab people by the scruffs of their neck when they’re being annoying. No way. She has no energy for that.

“Now, will you stop pestering me with your stupid questions while I’m trying to eat or I’m telling Sooyoung who your first girl crush was to prove my iden -”

Seungwan slaps a tissue into Seulgi’s mouth and pretends to wipe off something from her cheeks.

“Ah, Seulgi it really is you...” The ’94 liner draws a shaky breath, barely avoiding the reveal of the cause of her sexual awakening. She takes a seat, dropping the third person act. “I can't believe this..."

Sooyoung’s shrilly laughter slices through the hand she’s covering her lips with. Her black locks bounce along her helplessly juddering shoulders. She wipes a lone tear from her eye when her giggles die down. "I'm definitely the sanest person in this three-way friendship."

"What!? It's only Seungwan who's been acting strange!" Seulgi cries out defensively, directing her chopsticks at the real culprit. “Look at her addressing me in third person like a mad woman. You can’t lump me in with _her_!”

“M-me!? Me? _I’m_ the strange one!?” Seungwan stammers, pupils wide and fazed at her friend’s accusation. She folds her arms and squeezes back into her chair’s back rest. "It's _Seulgi_ who's been weird the whole week! She's changed, I swear! She comes to work earlier than I do, pays attention to the consultant, treats her patients obediently and graciously and get this - she diligently _does_ telephone duty. No complaints, no anything!”

“Oh? How suspicious…” Sooyoung smirks, side-eyeing Seulgi as if she’s sized up exactly how much she’s changed. She sips her mint green slimming drink provokingly. “Ah, and this began when?”

Silence befalls the trio. Seungwan and Sooyoung exchange knowing glances and the dots have been connected. They nod and declare in unison: “It happened the day after we told her Irene's address.”

The neutral expression on Seulgi’s face shatters and pieces together in milliseconds but Sooyoung’s eyes are faster. The black-haired physician wiggles her brows playfully at a perturbed Dr. Kang. “This must be about that then…seeing you flinch like that.”

It’s not like she’s been doing it conscientiously but after her short ‘house visit’, the toxicology resident started gradually losing her audacity to slack off. Every time she thinks of grumbling about tiredness and boredom, a certain warmhearted girl who is singlehandedly paying bills, shaping the minds of legions of snotty kids and raising a daughter crosses her mind. It was similar to having an imaginary angel and devil perched on her shoulder, only that the former is winning unanimously in commanding her to behave. Hence, her trip to the Baes’ household _was_ the prime mover of Seulgi’s slow change of heart, but there is no way in hell she’s confessing _that_ in front of these goofballs. 

"What's bad about being a decent human? And what does it have to do with Irene-ssi?" Seulgi answers the speculation incisively, slumping her shoulders to appear more unconcerned. She maintains her straight face laboriously to dissuade her friends from sticking their meddling heads into her business. But of course, the dramatics go right over Sooyoung’s head and now, she’s bent on catching Seulgi redhanded.

"Aish, look at her! I think she's planned the future already! Work harder. Earn more money. Marry Irene. Raise a stable family." She preaches like a soothsayer, stretching out a finger for each predicted life milestone. She swallows more of her beverage and lets it slosh around inside her mouth as she eyes her unnie mischievously.

_M-m-marrying Irene?_

“It isn’t like that at all!” Seulgi yells then hangs her head low. She pretends to scoop up noodles into her mouth to cover up the beet red color filling her cheeks. She ponders if it’s possible to press her butt hard enough into the gray plastic seat so she’d melt into its numb synthetic blender of polymer.

“Aigooo, our Ddeulgi is blushing! Isn’t that cute?” Love really changes people..." Seungwan gushes. Her nose wrinkles as her eyes glaze over her same age friend like a mother whose child has uttered her first word. “Ah…I never thought I’d see the day…”

Seulgi tips her chin towards her chest out of embarrassment. Nobody really respects her unnie status among her two companions, but she _especially_ feels shamed when Seungwan, who is technically only younger than her by eleven days, is babying her. 

“Ya, w-wh-who said anything about being in love wit -"

“You hesitated though?”

“So?!”

“That means there’s some truth in it!”

“That’s ridicul –”

A shushing sound breaks off the fight and the 94 liners zip their mouths shut.

"Stop bickering! Seulgi’s favorite patient is at 12 o’ clock." Sooyoung mutter-yells, jutting her lips at the latter’s behind.

"What do you mean? I have no patient at 12 o’ clock. I'm on telephone du-"

"Hello, Seulgi-seonsaengnim!" A ringing voice chirped.

The said person whips her head back to see where it came from and she finds herself in the presence of a round-faced, smiling mini Irene in a striped black and white denim spliced long sleeve dress. _Oh,_ _Sooyoung meant the twelve o’ clock angle – not the time._

"A-Ahreum-ssi?” Seulgi sputters as she clumsily drags her chair towards her unexpected visitor. “Wha… how did you-"

"Nice to see you again, seonsaengnim.” The disembodied voice builds a queasy feeling on the back of the doctor’s mouth.

The real Irene saunters towards her daughter and lays her hands on her shoulders. In a flowy, navy blue flower-printed dress that reaches her heels, she emits a different charm from their first meeting. Seulgi looks at her as if she’s seeing her for the first time and though it might appear impolite, she finds it difficult not to stare with her mouth slightly open.

“Hello, Sooyoungie.” Irene greets the doctor she’s grown familiar to with a grin and politely bows to Seungwan. The two doctors return the respectful gesture.

Seulgi knows she should say something, but her mouth feels like it’s full of cotton, so she settles with a blank look instead. Seungwan and Sooyoung are probably dying to burst out laughing, judging how they’re giving Seulgi funny stares behind her. She can’t blame them though. Even Ahreum beats her in starting the conversation. 

"Eomma told me you worried and took care of me a lot that time when I ate something bad.” She chides, popping out a kitty dimple - a feature Seulgi hasn’t noticed until now that sets Ahreum apart from her mother.

“Really?” Seulgi sneaks a quick glance at Irene whose upper lip is protruding over her bottom, obviously guilty.

“Yup! You don’t have to worry anymore because I feel a lot better now, seonsaengnim.” Ahreum beams and simultaneously raises her hand up as if taking an oath. “Also, I won’t put things in my mouth that aren’t food ever again.” 

Seulgi’s lips are pulled into one of the brightest smiles she's ever given. She can’t resist ruffling Ahreum’s hair gently. “I’m glad to hear that, Ahreumie.”

The child nods animatedly and puts her arms behind her back. “And because of that I wanted to give you something…”

“Hm?” Seulgi shifts her weight in her seat to come closer. She cranes her neck, trying to spot a hint of what Irene’s kid is hiding, but she finds nothing. “I wonder what that something is…”

“You have to close your eyes first, seonsaengnim!”

In confusion, Seulgi’s gaze darts from Ahreum to Irene, but the older girl just cocks her head towards her daughter. Her lips curve into a smile that says: ‘just do whatever the kid tells you to’. The doctor pinches her lips anxiously and offers a weak smile. 

She squeezes her eyes shut.

Losing her vision, Seulgi suddenly becomes self-aware of how her heart felt clogged and constricted. Given that she’s both cringing internally at herself for playing along and actively imagining what possibly a toddler could give her - it’s excitement and embarrassment rolled into one.

“Okay, my eyes are closed now.”

Amidst the discordant mixture of sounds in the room, Seulgi can feel energy rustling towards her and she figures it must be Ahreum coming closer. She thinks of hair ties, gummy bears and coupons. After all, the gift must be small enough to fit in Ahreum’s hands. But as even breaths fan her face and something warm touches her cheek, Seulgi realizes Ahreum’s gift isn’t an object – but a kiss.

A warm, fuzzy feeling instantly eats the resident doctor whole and her lips twitch into a sloppy smile. She opens her eyes quickly. “I thought you had something in your fists. You really got me there…”

The toddler steps back and giggles.

“Now, it’s eomma’s turn…”Ahreum states, tugging Irene's arm and dragging her closer to the doctor.

"Eung?" The older girl's face rearranges into a puzzled expression, giving away that _this_ doesn't look like it was part of the plan. She bends down to see her daughter eye to eye. "What do you mean ‘it’s eomma’s turn’, sweetie?"

"It's your turn to kiss Seulgi-seonsaengnim, of course!"

Seungwan chokes on her food and coughing sounds permeate the table. 

If Seulgi would have been chewing her lunch too, she would have hurled it altogether at that moment.

Ahreum didn’t miss a beat with what she said as if it was as normal as yelling ‘ouch’ after getting hurt. It makes the doctor feel like all her heart’s tissue attachments have failed and the pumping organ has migrated to her stomach. Seulgi spares a look at Irene. She, likewise, doesn’t seem to be holding out well. Her cheeks are getting tainted with pink.

"But mommy can't do that, Ahreumie~" Irene responds in baby talk, crouching in front of her child.

"Yeah, it's okay, Ahreumie." Seulgi speaks out to help after letting out a nervous chuckle. She pats three-year-old’s head to stop her from unintentionally harassing her mother. “Irene-ssi has thanked me enough in the way that adults do it…”

"Okay..." Ahreum resigns and finally, both the teacher and the doctor breathe.

"…but, I think mommy wants to do it though. She's just shy because there are lots of people around."

Sooyoung cackles in her seat, erupting in the uncontrollable laughter she must have been suppressing the whole time. Irene collapses into her daughter’s stomach so Seulgi can’t see her face, but she bets they’re sharing the same feeling – the desire for the ground to swallow them whole.

"I'm really sorry, seonsaengnim." Irene apologizes as she rises from her hiding place. "Ah, this is so embarrassing..."

"It's alright." Seulgi stands, crossing her hands against each other to shrug off the unnecessary apology. "I appreciate your visit! I wish this wouldn't be the last, but being patients in a poison ward can’t be good, don’t you think so, Ahreumie?"

"You can visit us all the time at home though!” The younger Bae exclaims. “Eomma is a homebody!”

Seulgi spies Irene biting her inner cheek, coming close to asking the universe to whisk her away to oblivion. A stark contrast to her mini-me who is rocking her heels back and forth, staring at the doctor with high hopes and expectations. Surely, it’s a crime to disappoint her.

"Yeah?” Seulgi hunches, resting her palms on her knees. “How about I come over someday and we can all play together?"

"Yaaaay! Please take care of us more in the future, seonsaengnim!"

 _"Oh, don’t worry, kid. She’s going to do just that from now on…"_ Sooyoung quips from the back. Thankfully, not loud enough that only Seulgi and Seungwan could have probably heard it. The former shoots her her best what-the-hell look and the latter shushes her.

"Now, I think that's enough, Ahreum. We have to let seonsaengnim eat her lunch..." Irene tows her child away casually and without any further qualms. The heat on her face is still not going down despite positioning herself in a more comfortable distance. She bows her head a little, hoping gravity will help, and mumbles, “Seonsaeng –”

"Seulgi." The latter says, interrupting Irene. "Just call me Seulgi."

"Seulgi-ssi." Irene repeats shyly, like she's acquainting herself with a foreign word and welcoming its unfamiliar taste in her mouth. Her feet shuffles and her cheeks become progressively redder as time passes.

"Hmm?" The namebearer smiles, coaxing the older girl to continue what she has to say.

"This really isn't the last time we're going to meet?"

"Since I like to keep my promises... it won't be.” Seulgi peers over at Ahreum then at Irene again. She says her next words because she means them. “It’ll probably be better than being stuck at home studying alone...”

"Right… " Irene huffs and the doctor sees the grin she’s been thinking about for a week. The one that brings a twinkle to Irene’s half-moon eyes and the one that makes all Seulgi’s bad feelings go away. “I’m just saying…my daughter and I could be a handful. It might be as tiring as a day in the hospital. Choose your poison well, _ssem._ ”

To this, Seulgi’s lips inch into a lopsided smile. 

**"I picked my poison and it's you."**


End file.
